The shares of Americana have gained 5 per cent this year. Charles Crowell for The National
The shares of Americana have gained 5 per cent this year. Charles Crowell for The National

Mohamed Alabbar-led Adeptio buys 26 per cent stake in Kuwait’s Americana



A UAE-based investor group led by Emaar Properties chairman Mohamed Alabbar said it agreed to buy Kuwait Food Company shares from its majority stockholder for $2.36 billion.

Adeptio AD Investments, the group led by Alabbar, will pay 2.65 Kuwaiti dinars (Dh32.39) per share to buy a stake in the company known as Americana from Al Khair National for Stocks and Real Estate Co, the companies said in a statement. That represents a 26 per cent premium to the last closing price on Wednesday in a sales process that has stretched back at least two years.

Adeptio will launch a mandatory takeover offer for the remaining shares of Americana at the same price, according to the statement. Al Khair owns a 67 per cent stake in the company that operates KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants in the Middle East and North Africa, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Throughout the years, suitors have included Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, KKR & Co and CVC Capital Partners.

The shares of Americana have gained 5 per cent this year to 2.1 dinars, while Kuwait’s benchmark stock index has declined 3.9 per cent.

“We are delighted to have acquired one of the crown jewels of the Middle East,” Alabbar said in the statement. “With its long and successful history as the leading food and restaurants business in Mena, Americana is uniquely positioned in the region.”

Adeptio hired Goldman Sachs for advice on the transaction, as well as Allen & Overy as its lawyers. Rothschild advised Al Khair, which sought legal counsel from Clifford Chance. Standard Chartered Bank assisted in structuring the acquisition financing and joined Credit Suisse, Ahli United Bank, Emirates NBD, First Gulf Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi as mandated lead arrangers for the transaction.

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Company Profile

Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million

The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
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Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8

Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm

Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km

Price: Dh380,000

On sale: now 

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